Of Little Sisters And Their Wife-Hunting
by reppad98
Summary: As one can imagine, it's very embarrassing when your younger sister begs a woman at least ten years your senior to please marry you and take care of you. So, after the latest incident, Clemont decides to have a serious talk with Bonnie. He is not looking forward to it. At all. One-shot. Written for Ebaz's Gym Leader Challenge on the Pokémon Fanfiction Challenges forum.


**A/N:** Thank you for clicking on this story! I hope you enjoy it :) Mostly family fluff, this story, but it hints a little bit at one-sided Amour and one-sided GeekchicShipping, if you squint :P

This story was written for Ebaz's Gym Leader Challenge Section C: Anime Canon on the Pokémon Fanfiction Challenges forum. The challenge was to write an one-shot or multi-chap between 300 and 5000 words, of any rating or pairing, about a Gym Leader assuming their anime roles.

 **Note:** I took a little creative freedom for story purposes concerning the ages of the characters, so for those interested, Clemont, Ash and Serena are around sixteen, and Bonnie is eight. I hope you don't mind!

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or the picture used as cover (though I did edit it).**

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 **Of Little Sisters And Their Wife-Hunting**

Embarrassment was always the first and most prominent emotion. Anger and frustration followed, and after letting those emotions out at the cause of his mortification, guilt and resignation took their places, especially after seeing the look on his sister's face.

He knew she meant well. He really did. But, well-

It was just embarrassing when your younger sister begged a woman at least ten years your senior to please marry you and take care of you.

Very, very embarrassing.

So, after dragging Bonnie away, profusely apologizing to the poor woman who had been the latest victim of his sister's wife-hunting attacks – the women always just watched him ramble on, their faces a mixture of pity and amusement – and stewing the rest of the day in his frustration and embarrassment, Clemont had finally come to a decision.

It wasn't easy, because he loved Bonnie very much and found it very difficult to deny her anything – really, he couldn't say no to her – but in the end he had concluded this could not go on any longer.

He was going to have a serious talk with Bonnie.

And he was definitely _not_ looking forward to it.

"Bonnie…" He was unsure as to how to start this conversation, but he guessed it would be best done in privacy. So first he would need an excuse to leave the newly chosen campsite and their two companions behind.

That was easy enough, he decided.

"Hm?" She looked up from Dedenne, her blue eyes shining. "What's up, brother?"

"You mind helping me in gathering some firewood?" The question was innocent enough, and she agreed happily.

"Sure thing, brother!"

Ash – by either a stroke of dumb luck or an insightfulness Clemont had not expected from the other boy – helped him even further.

"Good idea, Clemont," he said, before turning to Bonnie. "Why don't you leave Dedenne here, Bonnie? Serena and I will prepare the Pokémon their food."

Dedenne, never the one to miss out on a meal, made the decision for Bonnie by jumping out of the little bag.

"Alright, you behave, eh?" Bonnie smiled and patted the small Pokémon on its head.

"No problem, Ash and I will take care of everything." Serena smiled nervously, her cheeks turning slightly pink, though Clemont seemed the only one to notice.

Inwardly shaking his head, he bid the other two goodbye and walked off into the forest, Bonnie happily skipping after him.

Alright. He could do this. It was going to be embarrassing and difficult, but he could do this.

"Bonnie?" He stopped walking, and Bonnie bounced past him.

"Yes?" she called back, pausing when he didn't appear to follow. Noticing the serious look on his face, she frowned. "Is something wrong?"

"Er…" A blush rose to his cheeks, and Bonnie's face relaxed into a smile as she noticed it in the light of the setting sun.

"Is it about a girl? It's about a girl, isn't it? Oh, it's about a girl! Do you need my advice? Because I can totally give you some advice-"

"No, no, no," he hurried to interrupt her, feeling that this conversation was already going in the wrong direction. "It's not about a girl, it's not about a girl."

"Oh." Bonnie fell silent, the smile turning in the curious expression she wore so often. "What, then?"

"Uh…" Now that he finally had her attention, it was difficult getting out the right words. Scratch that, he never got out the right words, whether he had her attention or not. He was just horrible with social situations in general.

"It's… well, it's about this." He gestured in Bonnie's direction, and even before she frowned he already knew he had been too vague.

"This…?" Bonnie mimicked him, waving around. "Or do you mean me?"

"Yes- er, no, not really you, but well, it has to do something _with_ you, and uh-"

His sister looked somewhat hurt, and Clemont sighed, crouching down in front of her.

"Look, Bonnie, it's not you, but it's what you just did. This…" He hesitated, wondering how to exactly put this. "You know, how you're also so excited whenever I mention a girl, and well, you know… Idlikeitifyoustoppedtryingtofindawifeforme."

Bonnie blinked at him, confusion still more apparent than other emotions. "What?"

This really wasn't so difficult. He was making it more difficult than it had to be, so just… relax… Clemont took a deep breath, and fighting down an embarrassed blush, he gave his sister a small smile as he put a hand on her shoulder.

"Bonnie… you always try to find a wife for me-" she opened her mouth to interrupt, and Clemont quickly hurried on, "-and I really appreciate the sentiment behind it, but I'm really not interested in a wife right now."

Bonnie snapped her mouth shut again, momentarily appearing to think – and in that moment, Clemont hoped that he had succeeded (that had been way easier than he had expected) – but then Bonnie opened her mouth again and his illusion was shattered.

"A husband, then?" Her eagerness was probably adorable to some, but it caused Clemont's cheeks to burn and left him fumbling for a response.

"No, no, not a husband- I mean, nothing wrong with that, but I'm not interested in marriage, or a romantic relationship, or any romantic interactions, or romance in general. And even if I was, if I wanted your help with it I'd _ask_ for it."

Clemont was breathing heavily now, his rant which had been increasing in volume and impetuosity leaving him both feeling relieved and guilty. The guilt got more prominent when he finally noticed the look on Bonnie's face.

Her lips were pressed together tightly, trying to keep her lower lip from trembling, her eyes averted to the ground, but he could still see the tears in them. She half-heartedly tried to shake his hand from her shoulder.

Oh Arceus. He was such an idiot.

"Bonnie…"

"You don't want my help?" Her voice was trembling, and inwardly he sighed – he couldn't do anything right, could he? – before trying to amend the situation.

"Bonnie," he whispered, pulling her in a hug. "I know you just want to help, and I really appreciate it, but…"

"I can't always take care of you, you know," Clemont heard her say next to his ear, her arms wrapping themselves around his neck. "And you're horrible at taking care of yourself."

"I know, I know," he said, relaxing a little. He shifted his grip, before lifting her up as he stood back up, causing Bonnie to hug him tighter in response. For reasons unknown to him, his stamina when it came to running was atrocious, but when it came to holding his sister, he could keep it up for hours.

That didn't change the fact that Bonnie was now upset, and that it was his fault. Again. He knew it was normal when an older sibling was forced into a parental role, but that didn't change his feelings about the whole wife-hunting situation. It also didn't help that his high IQ was practically useless in delicate social situations as these.

Maybe he could reason with her. It was worth a try, he guessed.

"There must be another solution than marriage, right? I doubt a woman would want to be stuck taking care of me." He tried for some humor, but he felt Bonnie shake her head against his shoulder.

"Nah, she'll love you, you're great."

Clemont smiled, pulling her just a bit tighter.

"Thanks, little sis."

"Welcome, big bro."

They were silent for a bit, Bonnie's crying diminishing, while Clemont kept quiet because of his unsureness whether or not to continue this conversation or just leave it at this. But if he did, they would never get any further with this.

"But still…" he found himself starting, and decided he might as well continue. "Marriage is really big… Maybe I could build a robot to take care of me, or-"

"Nuh-uh. Those always explode." Bonnie pulled away from him, smiling playfully as she let go of one shoulder and poked his chest. "You're getting married."

Clemont sighed again – how was he ever going to get his point across – and Bonnie's smile slipped off her face. Her eyes darted around them, her mouth opening as if to say something, before she closed it again.

"I…"

At Bonnie's voice, Clemont snapped his attention back to his sister, who seemed to be struggling to say something. He felt inclined to interrupt, logic telling him to help her figure it out, to ask a question, but he kept quiet and waited.

With her gaze lowered, a whisper finally made its way out. "Mom and Dad and were already married when they were as old you."

The unexpected words knocked all possible responses he had thought out right out of his mind, and Clemont fumbled for a response.

"Ah… yeah, that is true," he said slowly, for he can't deny it. Their parents had gotten married when they were sixteen, against the wishes of their families, moving to a new city with very little money, an unfinished education and a baby on its way.

Surprising himself, he recovered quicker than he had expected, and found the right words with more ease than ever before.

"Yeah, yeah, that's true, but Bonnie…" He paused, momentarily rephrasing his words, then continued. "Everyone is different, everyone has their own pace. Some people never get married, other people three times; there is no step-by-step guide for marriage, or for love, or for anything like that in life. Everyone just does what they think is best."

He felt pretty proud of himself now.

Bonnie stared at him, wide-eyed, before slowly nodding. Clemont smiled, then shifted her weight to one arm.

"And I understand you want me to be happy, like Mom and Dad were before-" He faltered, his mind unwantedly turning to their parents' lack of happiness the last few years, before continuing on. "-but I'm perfectly happy like this." He freed one arm and patted Bonnie gently on one cheek. "Let me do this my own way, okay?"

Bonnie was silent, before falling back against his chest and wrapping her arms around him again. "I love you, you know. I just want to help."

"I know, I know," Clemont muttered, happiness swelling inside him. "I love you, too." He hugged her tighter, before putting her on the ground again.

"So, do we have an agreement, then?" He tried not to sound too hopeful, but he suspected Bonnie had heard it anyway.

She was looking at the ground, then let out a dramatic sigh. "Fiiine… I'll _try_ …"

Well, that was more than he had hoped for.

"Thank you," he breathed, relieved. "Now, let's get back to Ash and Serena, hm?"

"Alrighty!" Bonnie excitedly grabbed his hand and skipped back in the direction they had come from, dragging a stumbling Clemont along with her. Despite that most of his attention was focused on not tripping and keeping up with Bonnie, he couldn't help but think that they were forgetting something.

They burst through the bushes and onto the clearing, on which Ash and Serena were portioning out the Pokémon's food. Ash called out a greeting, though he kept his attention on his careful attempt to equally divide the food, and Serena looked up with a smile.

"Hello- oh, uh…" She faltered as she took in their appearance, and without intending to, Clemont mentally gave himself a quick once-over, checking whether he had sticks in his hair or otherwise looked stupid.

"Where is the firewood?"

"Uh…" Heat crept up his face at Serena's obvious question, who looked more confused than anything else, and all previous exhaustion forgotten, he abruptly grabbed Bonnie under one arm – who protested with a loud "Hey!" – and turned on his heels right back into the forest. "We'll be right back!"

When they were quite a distance away, Clemont all but dropped Bonnie to the ground, and red-faced and heavily puffing he tried to catch his breath. Without sparing his sister another glance or speaking a word, he quickly started to pick up some branches.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid, firewood, _of course_ , stupid, stupid, stupid," he muttered under his breath, unaware of the amused stare his sister was giving him.

Arms full of newly gathered firewood, Clemont looked up and saw Bonnie, still empty-handed, watching him with barely hidden glee.

"Wh-what?" he stuttered, the blush returning to his cheeks for reasons he didn't understand, and uncertain of the cause of her sudden happiness but already knowing it wouldn't mean anything good for him.

"So…" Bonnie clasped her hands behind her back, and rocked forward and backward on the balls of her feet. Her impish smile confirmed that yes, this was indeed no good for him. "Serena, huh?"

"Bonnie!"

"Kidding, kidding!" Her laughter echoed around them, and, dropping his firewood, Clemont found he still had some energy left to chase after his little sister.

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 **A/N:** Thank you very much for reading! It was fun to write, and I hope you found it fun to read as well. And yeah, Clemont and Bonnie have no perfect family life – what Pokémon characters do? I left it purposely vague, so feel free to interpret whichever way you want. Anyway, reviews are very appreciated :D

Thank you!


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